India–EU Trade and Technology Council: How Brussels Could Redraw the Global Tech Order

Jul 18

6 min read

India once viewed Europe largely through the prism of trade and investment. That perception is changing, as Europe's world-class research institutions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and regulatory leadership in emerging technologies are making it as much an innovation partner as an export market.

The geopolitics of the twenty-first century will be coded into AI models, etched onto silicon wafers and secured through trusted partnerships. That is why the Third India–European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Ministerial Meeting, held in Brussels on 15 July 2026, deserves far more attention than a routine diplomatic engagement. It amplified a growing consensus that partnerships built on technology, innovation and resilience will define the next era of global influence.

The discussions in Brussels acknowledged a profound shift in the nature of power. The nations that shape the next global order may not be those with the largest armies or the deepest pockets, but those capable of building resilient technology ecosystems, trusted supply chains and innovation networks that can withstand geopolitical shocks. Technology does not wait for politics to catch up. Wise nations do not wait either. India and the European Union appear to have grasped that reality, and the Trade and Technology Council is steadily becoming the framework through which they intend to act on it.

A Council That Thinks Beyond Trade

Today, conversations about semiconductors attract the same urgency that oil once commanded. Artificial intelligence has been integrated into the vocabulary of national security. Digital infrastructure has become as critical as physical infrastructure. Supply chains have evolved from logistical concerns into instruments of geopolitical influence.

The India–EU Trade and Technology Council has steadily transformed into one of New Delhi's most consequential institutional platforms with Europe. Unlike conventional trade dialogues, the TTC brings economics, technology, innovation, security and industrial policy under a single framework, reflecting how profoundly international diplomacy has changed.

The Indian delegation, led by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Commerce Jitin Prasada, and Principal Scientific Adviser Prof. Ajay K. Sood, travelled to Brussels for an extensive engagement with policymakers, scientists, parliamentarians, businesses and research institutions.

The ministers met European Council President António Costa to review progress since the 16th India–EU Summit earlier this year. Dr Jaishankar also held discussions with EU High Representative and Vice-President Kaja Kallas on the broader strategic partnership, regional security, maritime stability and developments in West Asia.

The ministerial session itself was co-chaired with Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Commissioners Maroš Šefčovič and Ekaterina Zaharieva. Together, both sides reviewed progress across the TTC's three working groups on technologies and digital connectivity, clean energy, trade, investment and resilient supply chains.

More importantly, they reaffirmed the TTC as a permanent mechanism capable of addressing technology gaps, supply chain vulnerabilities and regulatory challenges through coordinated policymaking rather than episodic diplomacy.

Why Chips Suddenly Became Geopolitical

The significance of that agenda becomes clearer when viewed through a crisis that almost everyone experienced without fully noticing. A modern automobile contains well over a thousand semiconductor chips. During the global chip shortage, automobile plants from Germany to India were forced to suspend production, not because they lacked steel, engines or skilled workers, but because tiny silicon chips worth only a few dollars were unavailable. Those disruptions rippled across industries, delayed exports and exposed an uncomfortable truth that economic resilience could now be undermined by components so small they fit on a fingertip.

Dr Jaishankar captured this larger transformation after the Brussels meeting when he described the Trade and Technology Council as one of the most significant institutional mechanisms connecting India and the European Union. The remark reflects an emerging geopolitical consensus. Technology has indisputably become the architecture of national power.

Countries leading semiconductor manufacturing influence the global electronics industry. Artificial intelligence largely shapes military capabilities, industrial productivity and digital governance. Quantum technologies promise to redefine cybersecurity, while high-performance computing determines leadership in scientific research, pharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing.

Recognising these realities, India and the European Union agreed to deepen cooperation in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, trusted digital infrastructure, high-performance computing and other frontier technologies. They also committed themselves to expanding research partnerships, strengthening resilient value chains and creating deeper engagement between industries, startups and research institutions. These are not symbolic declarations. They are investments in the technologies that will determine economic competitiveness for decades.

Economic Security Has Acquired a New Meaning

Perhaps the most significant message from Brussels had less to do with trade than with security. For decades, inexpensive Russian energy powered much of Europe's industrial economy. The Ukraine conflict exposed the cost of overdependence, forcing Europe to diversify energy supplies, accelerate renewables and rethink economic security. The lesson soon extended beyond gas to semiconductors, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals and digital infrastructure.

Reliability has become as valuable as efficiency, and trust now carries economic value. Dr Jaishankar's observation that economic security is inseparable from tactical security captures this changing reality. The pandemic, semiconductor shortages and geopolitical disruptions have shown that dependence on a single geography for critical technologies or manufacturing creates vulnerabilities no nation can afford. That is why the TTC places equal emphasis on clean technologies, resilient supply chains, sustainable manufacturing and critical minerals, reflecting a world where trade policy, industrial strategy and national security converge.

Europe Is Becoming India's Innovation Partner

Discussions with Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva explored deeper cooperation in research, startups, clean technologies and India's possible association with the Horizon Europe programme. Commissioner Jozef Síkela expanded the agenda to connectivity, green shipping and the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor, underscoring how technology, logistics and vital infrastructure now reinforce one another.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal also advanced discussions on agriculture, climate cooperation, trade and investment with Commissioners Christophe Hansen, Wopke Hoekstra and Maroš Šefčovič while engaging Members of the European Parliament to sustain momentum behind the proposed India–EU Free Trade Agreement. Together, these engagements show that trade, technology, research and climate policy are no longer parallel conversations. They are becoming one integrated agenda.

From Diplomacy to Industrial Collaboration

The Brussels visit focused as much on industrial partnerships as on political dialogue. The ministers participated in the India–EU Business Roundtable with the leadership of Belgium's Flanders and Wallonia regions, engaging European companies on opportunities arising from the proposed Free Trade Agreement. Piyush Goyal met Thales Belgium to discuss manufacturing cooperation, while Jitin Prasada and Principal Scientific Adviser Prof. Ajay K. Sood visited IMEC, one of the world's leading semiconductor research centres, to deepen collaboration in chip research.

These engagements reflect a broader shift in diplomacy. Governments may sign agreements, but strategic outcomes emerge from scientists, startups, universities, entrepreneurs and research institutions. The TTC recognises that innovation ecosystems, not governments alone, will determine long-term competitiveness.

Belgium's importance reinforces this approach. Dr Jaishankar co-chaired the inaugural India–Belgium Strategic Dialogue with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, expanding cooperation across defence, mobility, pharmaceuticals, maritime affairs, ports, semiconductors and resilient supply chains. Combined with engagements involving Deputy Prime Minister David Clarinval and Flanders Minister-President Matthias Diependaele, Belgium is emerging as a crucial bridge into Europe's innovation ecosystem.

A Coalition for the Next Industrial Revolution

The Third Trade and Technology Council points towards a new model of partnership. Rather than centring only on defence or commerce, India and the European Union are weaving together technology, research, digital governance, climate transition, manufacturing and economic resilience into a shared framework.

The next global superpower may not be a country at all. It may be a network of trusted partners. India and Europe appear determined to build one. For India, this partnership promises access to frontier research, advanced manufacturing and diversified investments that can accelerate its journey towards becoming a developed economy by 2047. For Europe, India offers a rapidly growing democratic economy with technological capabilities, abundant talent and a pivotal role in the Indo-Pacific.

The real challenge now is execution. The TTC will eventually be judged by joint semiconductor research, AI collaborations, cleaner energy technologies, resilient supply chains, industrial investments and startup partnerships, not by the number of meetings held. The encouraging signal from Brussels is that the political will, institutional architecture and industry participation are already in place.

History rarely announces when the balance of power begins to shift. Such moments often resemble technical meetings or research partnerships before they become milestones. The Third India–EU Trade and Technology Council may well be one of them. If earlier industrial revolutions were driven by coal, steel and oil, the next will be powered by chips, algorithms, quantum laboratories and trusted partnerships. India and the European Union have recognised that reality, and they are choosing to build it together.